Tracing the origin and early radiation of birds—Paleornithologist ZHOU Zhonghe

With great care, Dr. ZHOU Zhonghe takes out a package wrapped by cotton tissue from a drawer and says： “This is the gem of our collections： the fossil of a bird that lived 125 million years ago!” Then, pointing at a tiny mound, he explains： “Look, this is the claw and that is the head. It was in the egg shell and ready to hatch ... The species fell into a family of waterside inhabitants.”     

Flagship project on cryopheric changes launched at CAS

With the support of the National Basic Research Program （dubbed “973” Program）, a research project entitled the “dynamic process of China＇s cryosphere, and the mechanism behind its impact on climate, hydrology and ecology” has recently been launched at the CAS Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute （CAREERI） in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China＇s Gansu Province, marking the inception of a systematic and allround exploration of the subject.     

BP Group and CAS institute to co-establish an energy lab in Dalian

The CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics(DICP)and BP Group will join efforts to set up an Energy Innovation Laboratory(BP- DICP EIL)at DICP.The agreement for the new initiative was signed by DICP Director ZHANG Tao and BP Group Vice President Tony Meggs on 5 December,2007 in Dalian. According to the agreement, BP will donate $3 million to the new lab,which will be part of the forthcoming National Laboratory for Clean Energy Sources.In addition,the company promises to annually contribute no less than ...     

New breakthrough in high-end RF chip development

The world first WLAN IEEE802.11a/b/g ＋ DVB-H RF chip has been developed recently at the Suzhou-based CAS Semiconductor Integration Research and Development Center, a spinoff of the CAS Institute of Semiconductors.     

A new direction in search of “missing”carbon sinks

ACAS scientist succeeds in developing a new direction for exploring the inorganic carbon cycle of the earth. His creative work was recently reported by the 20th issue of Chinese Science Bulletin in 2007.     

Climate impact of changing landscape in tropical region

As China＇s major planting base for rubber trees （Hevea brasiliensis）,Xishuangbanna in southwest China＇s Yunnan Province has made tremendous contributions to the national economic growth. However, because the lands suitable for rubber plantations are largely distributed in tropical rainforests,the increasing rubber plantations have led to the acreage reduction of the local rainforests. These may irreversibly alternate the local ecological and environment systems, producing direct or indirect impact on climate. Of them, the changes in atmospheric chemistry are caused by the differences between biogenic volatile organic compounds （VOC） from rubber plantations and those of natural vegetation.     

Construction for neutrino experiment starts at Daya Bay

The ground-breaking ceremony for the Daya Reactor Neutrino Experiment,China's largest single project of international collaboration in basic science as well as the biggest one between US and China,was held at Daya Bay Nuclear Power Base in Shenzhen on 13 October,2007. Chaired by CHEN Hesheng, director of the CAS Institute of High Energy Physics(IHEP),the ceremony was attended by high-     

A new model for simulating evolution of human influenza virus

Understanding the evolution of influenza A virus, which poses a global challenge to public health, is of special significance for its control and prevention. Although the genome structure of the virus is seemingly simple, their evolutionary patterns and molecular mechanisms are difficult to reveal.     

Commissioning of a 3,500 ton/year synthetic gasoline facility

Using technologies developed by CAS researchers, a demo facility of coal-to-oil conversion with an annual capacity up to 3,500 tons was successfully commissioned on 11 December, 2007 at the Yunnan Jiehua Chem Group （JH Group） in Southwest China＇s Yunnan Province, producing qualified Ron 93 petrol.